Jamie Varner
Jamie Varner is the retired former WEC lightweight champion. He most recently fought to a controversial draw with undefeated lightweight prospect, Kamal Shalorus. Despite breaking his hand and leg in the fight, Varner most recently faced Donald Cerrone in a rematch of their first bout, only three months after the Shalorus fight. Cerrone reportedly made death threats towards Varner, expressing his hopes that the fight's result would be Varner becoming the "first death in MMA." He also called Varner a "fag." Cerrone backed up his shit-talk with a dominant unanimous decision victory. The duo was rumored to have a rubber match within a few months of their second fight. Both men agreed to the fight. Cerrone was instead switched to face Chris Horodecki. Varner instead faced Shane Roller at the final WEC event and lost via first-round rear-naked choke submission. After the loss, Varner was cut by Zuffa and he didn't follow Roller into the UFC. Varner next fought Tyler Combs. A few days before the Combs fight, Varner was rumored to face Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki in Japan. Instead, former MFC lightweight champion Antonio McKee was selected. Varner defeated Combs via first-round technical submission due to a north-south choke. Varner next faced late replacement Dakota Cochrane, losing via unanimous decision. After the bloody and humiliating loss, Varner contemplated retirement. He next faced Nate Jolly, winning via blistering technical knockout in just sixty-nine seconds. Varner next faced fellow UFC veteran Drew Fickett, defeating Fickett via submission due to punches after a mere forty seconds. Varner next signed to face Strikeforce veteran Lyle Beerbohm. He pulled out of the fight to instead step in on late notice to return to the UFC to face undefeated Brazilian title contender Edson Barboza. Varner was considered to be a significant underdog. Varner pulled out an incredible upset in his UFC return, handing the feared Barboza his first career loss by first round technical knockout. Varner thanked his cornermen and fans for believing in him when he no longer believed in himself and then he said that was he back. Varner next stepped in on short notice to replace Terry Etim against veteran Joe Lauzon. Varner and Lauzon went to war for nearly full straight rounds. Varner was ahead until Lauzon caught him in a triangle choke submission, forcing Varner to tap out. Varner broke his hand in the fight and was forced to take some time off to recover. After recovering, Varner signed to face Melvin Guillard at the very end of 2012 to round off an impressive UFC year. After a close and competitive fight, Varner earned the victory over the veteran Guillard via split decision. He stated that he would be willing to return by April against such opponents as Rafael Dos Anjos, Ross Pearson, Matt Wiman and TJ Grant. Varner instead next fought Gleison Tibau losing a relatively close split decision. Varner was next set to fight Strikeforce veteran Pat Healy but he was unfortunately injured. He was quickly replaced by Strikeforce veteran Bobby Green. After recovering Varner stepped in to replace Green himself against Abel Trujillo. The two went to war with Trujillo scoring a stunning second round comeback knockout over Varner. Varner signed in February 2014 to fight James Krause. Varner left it all in the cage despite suffering a broken ankle early in the first round. He was forced to submit to a corner stoppage between the first and second rounds. After recovering Varner fought Drew Dober losing via rear-naked choke submission after knocking himself out with a failed takedown. Varner subsequently retired in the cage with much respect from fans and Dober. Fights *Jamie Varner vs. Jason Gilliam - The fight was Jason Gilliam's first loss in his career. *Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone 1 - Due to an unintentional knee on the ground by Donald Cerrone, the fight was stopped at 1:58 of round 5 and went to the scorecards because Varner was unable to continue with the time given to recover, and he had double vision and a broken foot. The fight was for the WEC lightweight title with Varner defending. The outcome was a rare technical decision (split). *Donald Cerrone vs. Jamie Varner 2 *Dakota Cochrane vs. Jamie Varner - Dakota Cochrane was a late replacement. *Jamie Varner vs. Nate Jolly *Joe Lauzon vs. Jamie Varner - Varner was a late replacement for an injured Terry Etim. *Drew Dober vs. Jamie Varner Category:WEC lightweight champions Category:Lightweight fighters Category:Retired fighters